Month: May 2009

As we patiently (or impatiently) await to hear news about who's staying and who's leaving the Indios FC, we should look back at their great run. They came from being on the verge of relegation, to beating the greats like Cruz Azul and Chivas, to making the playoffs, to defeating the defending champions Toluca in quarterfinals, to beating the #1 team in the league in semifinals (though it wasn't enough to get to the finals).

They beat the odds time and time again. Everyone kept over-looking them, underestimating them, and were awed by them when they made historic plays and wins. All this in just one year of them making it to Mexico's top soccer league.

For those that question the significance and popularity of the Juarez team, here are some noteworthy articles:

1. USA Today newspaper took notice of the Indios and wrote about how the "football club Indios of Ciudad Juarez is giving some hope to the Mexico border city mostly known for drug violence and organized crime." For that article, click here.

2. Sports Illustrated also got in on the action of Indios success, after all they do cover the wide world of sports, but they focused on the four MLS castoffs who found success in Mexico's Primera Division. "MLS alumns nearing Mexican success" is an article that showcases Indios midfielder Marco Vidal, in particular, as a Texas native who faced another Texas native, Pachuca's José Francisco Torres, in the All-American semifinals of Mexico's Clausura 2009. American-born, Mexican-bred vs. American-born, Mexican-bred. Here is thearticle.

3. Sports Illustrated was not the only one spotlighting Indios' Marco Vidal. MLS Talk focused on the American Impact in Mexican Clausura Playoffs. They go on to say that Marco Vidal "welcomes the opportunity to represent" on the U.S. national team and should be considered strongly by Coach Bob Bradley. Here is that link.

4. Of course, the governing body of soccer would also document this. FIFA.com, in "Shocks aplenty in Mexico," talk about Indios as the season's revelation. "At the bottom end of the table there was drama aplenty too. With the teams most widely tipped for the drop, Indios and Puebla, are now enjoying exceptional seasons." Here is the story.

5. Lastly, the United States and Mexico were not the only ones who were pleasantly surprised by the Indios. The team with the biggest heart made it all the way across the pond in an article in one of the world's leading online newspapers (the first UK newspaper to attract more than 25 million/month in October 2008, at least that is what Wikipedia said). If you wanna read about the British view in "Indios advance to Mexican playoffs as big guns flop," go here. If you want to see their review of Indios vs. Pachuca in "Indios' romantic run ends in Mexico despite win," click here.

Despite the fact these articles mainly focus on the violence plaguing Juarez, they, like many of us, understand that the Juarez Indios bring us hope and joy. Our team, led by Eugui, Maleno, and Cirilo, never gave up, and they played with heart, with skill, and with hope that the Apertura 2009 will be just as great.

It has been confirmed that the head coach for CF Indios Hector Hugo Eugui will keep his position for at least one more year (2 more seasons) as reported by Sergio Arturo Duarte from El Diario. Gambino Amparan (whose position can be best describe as general manger for the Tribe), confirmed this yesterday and all that is needed now is for Eugui to sign on the dotted line when he returns to Juarez in about 2 weeks in preparation for the start of the Apertura 2009 season. The Head Coach for the Tribe is currently on vacation in his native Uruguay.

Good move for the Indios in my opinion. The once heavily critizied coach has now become one of the many hero's of this team from the borderland. Not only winning the respect of the teams followers, but that of important members of the national media. Hopefully his many years of experience will continue to do Indios well for the upcoming year and beyond. Good luck Coach Eugui, work hard and diligent as you always do. Until next time, VAMOS Indios!!!!

With the end of the Indios Clausura 2009 Season on Sunday it is now time for the Tribe's front office to get busy, wheel and deal, and decide what will be their moves as far as negotiating players contracts for the upcoming year. They will have to do this on a very short and rushed timeline. The start of the Apertura2009 season will be on July 24th. A lot will have to be done by then, and needless to say a lot will be going on with this team.

Here is the timeline in a little more detail. The players started their vacation time earlier this week. They will go on vacation for 16 days. They will return for their first practice on June 11th at 10:00am at the Yvasa Complex in Cd. Juarez (this complex is the Indios team headquarters.). The Draft for Mexican Soccer will take place on June 17th and 18th in Cancun. Possible locations for where CF Indios will do their preseason training have also been disclosed. The three possible locations will be on a beach town/city somewhere in Mexico, somewhere in the state of California, or Ruidoso, New Mexico. All this will take place before the start of the season on July 24th.

As for who will stay and who will go, thats where things get complicated. A lot of the players on the Indios roster for these last two seasons were on loan for a specified period of time by the soccer clubs that own the rights to them. That time has expired. Out of the 29 players on the Tribe's roster, Indios owns the rights of 16 players, the rights of 12 players belong to other clubs, and 1 player owns his own rights. Making things more complicated is the fact that some of the players that were on loan to Indios came with an option to buy the player at the end of the loan periods while others did not. So depending what boat the player is in, the negotiation may be more difficult for the Indios front office to realize. Regardless, the Indios front office is going to have to work very hard to keep what has now become the foundation of this team. As for individual players and what their current status is with the Indios…..tune in next time. That will be the next topic of discussion on my next post. I would like to thank Sergio Arturo Duarte for passing along timeline information and these numbers. One more thing, the championship series for the Clausura 2009 season starts tomorrow between Pumas and Pachuca. I hope Pachuca wins. They will deserve it more, they had the toughest road to the championship. They had to beat Indios. Until next time, VAMOS Indios!!!

NOTE: This post should have been posted on 5/25/09. In the middle of writing it I had a personal emergency and could not post it till now. Better late than never. Hope you all enjoy.

On this day one year ago CF Indios beat Leon by an aggregate score of 3-1 to move up to Mexico's Premier Socccer Division. So much has happened since then and I think the story has been well documented and right now I dont really want to get into it. Instead I would like to take the time and thank all those that have given me this opportunity to get involved with amazing project that is CF Indios de Cd. Juarez. I would like to thank the John Erfort, Jay Koester, Belinda Madrid (who also puts up AWSOME material on this blog!!!) and Bret Bloomquist all from the El Paso Times for helping me with this blog and sharing this wonderful experience that has been the Indios first season in Mexico's premier soccer division. I would like to thank Steve Kaplowitz, Mando Medina, Andy Leigh at KROD for allowing me to go on the air on a weekly basis to talk Indios soccer. Thanks also goes out to theIndios front office for their generosity and accessibility. Especially Ramon Morales and MarioBoisselier. Let us all hope for a good and successful off season for the Tribe (which we will cover for you on this blog) and a great Apertura 2009 Season. Until next time, VAMOS Indios!!!

The iconic hero of the Indios FC and Ciudad Juarez, Julio Daniel "el Maleno" Frias, was welcomed by a jam-packed auditorium Wednesday morning in the Political Science & Social Science building in the Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua campus in Juarez.

More than a hundred students chatted with the Indios forward, who was given a UACH shirt and was recognized for representing the city with humility and perseverance and serving as an inspiration and motivation.

During the Q&A, "Maleno" was asked to share his thoughts on certain plays and was congratulated by many for gaining respect for Juarez soccer in Mexican Soccer's First Division.

Before he was a symbol of the city of Juarez and its soccer team, Indios forward Julio Daniel Frias, a.k.a. el “Maleno,” had a rough and painful childhood, and only soccer and his family were able to change his course and get him out of gangs, drugs and vandalism.

He grew up in a rough neighborhood, Altavista, where having immense strength is the only way to survive.

Maleno recounted, “All my life I’ve fought and struggled, not just on the field.”

He went on to say he wasn’t ashamed of what he went through but grateful he got out of it because it made him value every second he has with his family and his team.

“I was in a gang when I was younger. I also used drugs, but I got out of it for love of my family, my kids, and soccer.”

His hard work and perseverance (working in a maquiladora in Juarez, crossing over to the United States illegally in search of the American Dream, and playing for the El Paso Patriots) got him that shot he needed, a shot with the Indios where he now plays professional soccer.

“After many years of inactivity in soccer, to return and be in the semifinals, I think is the most significant time in my life and my career.”

Now, he doesn’t want Indios to leave Ciudad Juarez, since it was his salvation, he thinks it can be a great escape for those wrapped up in the world of drugs, alcohol and vandalism.

“There are many who don’t and many who do (change). Whoever is brave enough can come out of it. That’s why we hope Indios stays many years here, so all those kids have a hope of playing for this institution.”

Hello everyone, just wanted to check in real quick with a thought. I don't normally like to come in with new material until Bret's hard work is fully realized and in print for everyone to read. So make sure EVERYONE check out our report on the game in tomorrow's edition of the El Paso Times. The Tribe may have been eliminated from the playoffs today. Just wanted to chime in an say that on this afternoon, CF Indios allowed everyone to dream that ANYTHING is possible. There is a saying in sports that every minute, including the last one, has 60 seconds, and today you had us believing until the last tick of the clock. THANK YOU!!! I will post my blog regarding today's game tomorrow before midnight. Check in then, until next time… VAMOS Indios!!!

Yesterday evening Puebla was 2 minutes away from shocking everyone and beating Pumas by the needed 2 gol difference to reach the finals. In the 88th minute Dario Veron headered the ball past the Puebla goalkeeper to make the score 2-1(3-3 in the aggregate score) thus giving the finals birth to Pumas. Few thought that the possiblity would be there of Puebla to make the finals and they were close. There is lots to be learned from yesterday's game for Indios. The most important of which is turning this thing around CAN happen. I think Indios has to score in the first 20 minutes of the game. When this happends the defensive line for Indios is really going to have to settle in and hold fort because Pachuca will regroup and come at the Tribe with everything that they have to kill any hope that that first gol will give Indios. Pachuca will try to do it as soon as possible.

Frustation has to be kept in check throughout the game. Ninety minutes is a long time and 3 gols have been scored by Indios in this amount of time before. Hell, they've done it in 45 minutes. The hollow or open spaces that Pachuca took advantage of in the Indios defensive sector in the frist leg of this series have to be reduced. I feel that Sydney Balderas on the right side of the defensive sector has to have a much better game than the one he had on Thursday. The work that the Tribe does on defensive side of the ball is key and fundamental. Campos, Balderas, Malagueno, and De La Barrera have to be impenetrable today. This happens and Indios doesn't only have a chance but a VERY good chance at turning this thing around.

Pachuca will come at Indios with everything they have. This you can be sure of. They will try to liquidate this series from they opening whistle by scoring on the Tribe as soon as possible. Pachuca is very aware of what this team from the borderland is capable of and does not want to the Tribe's next victim on this dream run. Pachuca's vice president Andres Fassi alluded to this yesterday saying, "Indios is a team that has been making miracles happen with regards to their soccer season, and because of this we need to be careful." The respect and the regard is there, from the front office right down to the players. Jaime Correa, midfielder for Pachuca is aware that overconfidence is a characteristic that this team can not afford. Correa stated, "….nothing has been decided because their is still 90 minutes left and in order to be in the final we still have to play them." In those 90 minutes anything can and will happen.

"Complicated, not impossible," were the words of CF Indios defender Tomas Campos as they arrived at the airport in Pachuca, Hidalgo yesterday. We are hours away from the 2nd Leg of the semi-finals between Pachuca and Indios, I hope that the words of Tomas Campos are deeply instilled in the hearts and minds of every player and fan of this humble team from the borderland. Yes they have to win by three gols and we all know and are aware of all the stats that are against the Tribe going into this game in the state of Hidalgo. I for one, will forget all of that and enjoy the game this Sunday afternoon with family and friends on this Memorial Day Weekend having faith that Indios will give it their all and come out with the win by the needed difference and not allow us to wake up from this dream that we are all living. Until next time, VAMOS Indios!!!

Less than 24 hours away from what will be one of, if not the most important soccer game in the history of the borderland, the one thing that CF Indios and Pachuca share for one another is R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Full of confidence but with their feet planted firmly on the ground both teams spoke well of each other. While the Tribe is aware of the task at hand and its roll as an underdog, Pachuca is declaring that it Indios can not be overlooked. Gabriel Caballero one of the star players from Pachuca declared, "It is said that we are favorites for what we did over the course of the season, the numbers and stats we accumulated, and because of what the media analysts say because they always have favorites. But stats are one thing, playing the game is another." Caballero is absolutely correct and apparently he is aware of the Tribe's recently acquired M.O., that of giant killers.

On the other side of the coin, head coach for Indios, Hector Hugo Eugui expressed full confidence to the media in yesterday's press conference but not an ounce of conceit. He is aware of the talent that Pachuca has and that they are a rival that is complicated but can be defeated. "Their players have been with the team for a while, and are great and important players, their coach has been with them for a long time." Because of this he went on to say that, "…they are well coached and a tough team." He also quickly alluded to the fact that Indios is just as tough and is ready for the task at hand pointing out the Tribe's strengths in which he listed intelligence, stamina, and a humility & hunger for endless success within each of its players.

I'll take those strong points that Eugui pointed out over a huge budget and superstar players any day of the week. Don't agree??? How else do you think we got here??? As to my keys for victory. Simple. Relax and enjoy. I'm not going to analyze the game in a technical and strategic manner. By now I think its safe to say that each player knows its role and Eugui has now got to the point that he has a solid handle on the substitutions and the adjustments that need to be made as the game develops. Most importantly the pressure is off and all of the pressure is on Pachuca.

The Tribe's presence in the "Grand Fiesta" of Mexican soccer is the great surprise of the entire Clausura 2009 season, and they are the buzz and media darlings of the sporting world in Mexico and in the borderland. I know I've enjoyed the attention that this humble team has received because of it and I hope that each member of the team has too. In less than 24 hours it will be time for all of us to once again enjoy the ride, a ride that we never thought we would never be on, and one that we want to see to the end. Until next time, VAMOS Indios!!!